Suspect arrested in Troup robbery

Several Smith and Cherokee county law enforcement agencies joined forces to track down the suspect in Saturday night's robbery of the Dollar General Store in Troup.

Troup Police Chief Pat Hendrix credits the cooperation and quick action of the Smith and Cherokee County sheriff offices, the police departments of Troup, Whitehouse, Arp and New Summerfield with nabbing the perpetrator. Hendrix also praised the community for their assistance in the investigation.

Monday, with search warrant in hand, officers arrested Timothy Ray Lydia, 37, of Troup on a parole violation. At the time of the arrest, Lydia was still wearing the ankle bracelet monitor placed there by Texas Parole Division.

During an interview conducted at the Troup PD, Lydia confessed to the robbery of the store. Also during the interview Lydia confessed to spending the undetermined amount of cash stolen to purchase drugs.

Lydia appeared before Judge James Meredith and bond was set at $50,000 for the robbery; no bond was set for the parole violation.

"That's the way we want things to work. We're a family of law enforcement who will help when need be," Chief Hendrix said. "We will go anywhere to assist and it felt real good for all of them to come into our city and assist as they did."